The present invention provides a method and apparatus enabling a user to investigate his or her nightly dream activity with little or no loss in the restorative process of a good night""s sleep.
The use of dreams as an anecdotal source of inspiration and prophecy is so common as to be recognizable across cultures, both current and through the ages. Mythological references to dreams and their effects abound. More recently, dreams have been made the basis of mental health inquiries through psychoanalysis. Individuals discussing their dreams with family and friends is an experience shared by all. Many inventors, scientists and artists have reported dream activity as the basis of many of their creative accomplishments.
A few devices have been developed over the years to analyze dreams and enhance the dreamer""s memory of his or her dreams. However, the prior art has mainly focused on one notable aspect of dream activity: the so-called xe2x80x9cLucid Dreamxe2x80x9d. The lucid dream is a dream in which the dreamer is aware of dreaming while remaining in the dream state. This arcane condition is often the focus of sleep labs and research institutes. Such facilities have developed devices to sense a sleeper""s dreaming or non-dreaming state.
In general, these devices are worn by the test subject in order to sense the dream state. When a dream state is detected some form of feedback is provided to alert the patient that a dream is occurring. If all works out well, a lucid dream will ensue. The prior art all require some form of device that is physically attached to the sleeper. Wearing such an attachment is not a normal part of the sleeper""s habits and can interfere with the test subject""s usual night""s sleeping process and may itself become the focus of the subject""s dream activity.
For example, LaBerge et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,716 discloses a mask, similar to sunglasses or goggles, which is additionally wired for sound. Such devices may be suitable for investigating sleep patterns in a lab context, but are not likely to find widespread nightly usage among the general populous. Additionally, the devices described by Laberge et al. are expensive, further limiting their appeal to individuals who may desire to investigate their dreams on their own.
Many experiments have been performed to awaken test subjects during the so-called REM (Rapid Eye Movement) periods of sleep. It has been determined that these periods usually correspond with dream activity. When a test subject is awakened during a REM event, the subject is usually able to remember the dream which was occurring at the time he or she was awakened. If the test subject is not awakened, the dream is more likely to be forgotten during the intervening periods of deeper, dreamless sleep. Thus, for those individuals who are interested in investigating the subjects of their dreams it is desirable that they occasionally be woken up either during or shortly after a REM event. With most subjects, the first REM event usually occurs about sixty minutes after the subject falls asleep. Thereafter, periods of deep sleep with little dream activity are punctuated by periods of heightened dream activity during REM events which occur approximately every 90 minutes.
Most persons experience a cycle of 4, 5 or 6 REM events per night.. These cycles are usually consistent for a given individual but vary from one person to another. In a substantial percentage of the population the rhythms are so strong and consistent that many people have no need for an alarm clock. Their own xe2x80x9cinternal clocksxe2x80x9d are so accurate that they wake up at the same time each morning on their own. This indicates that for many individuals it is not necessary to provide sensors and or physical hookups to the individual to determine when REM events are taking place since the REM events will take place at substantially the same time each night.
For those persons having a sufficiently regular sleeping rhythm, a remote device could be programmed to awaken the individual at the appropriate time at the end of or just after the conclusion of a REM event. Such a device could be configured to wake the dreaming individual by issuing an xe2x80x9calertxe2x80x9d in the form of flashing lights, playing sounds at certain frequencies, playing music, and so forth. As REM sleep is much closer to the waking state than non-REM sleep, the strength of the alert would be set at a level which would only awaken the user during a REM event. Such a device would ideally allow for variable time settings in order to individually synchronize the occurrence of dream alerts with an individual""s nightly rhythms. Dream alerts could be set to occur, for example, at the end of the individual""s REM events or shortly thereafter.
Such synchronization could be effected through repeated use and fine tuning of the dream alert settings. Reliable timing will proceed from the daily stored and updated values of the alert variables. By fine tuning the synchronization between the dream alerts and the occurrence of REM events, the dream alerts may be provided by a remote device with no physical connections to the user. The user would then experience a more natural sleep environment while still benefiting from being awakened during and usually near the end of REM events so that dreams are more fully remembered. An additional desirable feature of such a device would be to include a dictation system so that the user could record the subject matter of his or her dreams before returning to sleep. Further, the user""s normal sleep patterns such as the time the individual normally goes to bed and gets up should be storable so that the user need not go through a tedious set up procedure each night before retiring. The nature of the dream alerts should also be selectable to allow for a wide range of wake up options. For example, device settings should allow for minimal intrusion during the REM cycle. This will help to prevent waking the user during non-REM periods, as well allowing the user to complete dreams before the user awakens in response to the alert event.
These needs and other needs are satisfied by the present invention comprising a programmable dream analyzer apparatus containing a programmable microcontroller, at least one input device operatively connected to the microcontroller, and an alert device or alert enunciator connected to the microprocessor. The microcontroller is adapted to receive user input consisting of a start time corresponding to a time when the user goes to sleep, and an end time corresponding to a time when the user expects to wake up. Alternatively, the user may input his or her total sleep time instead of the wake up time.
The microcontroller then calculates and programs the times for an alert that are associated with the occurrence of a REM event that the user is expected to experience in the time period between the start time and end time. The microcontroller then activates an alert device or alert enunciator at the programmed alert times, such as flashing LEDs or playing a melody or tone through a speaker.